A 60-year-old man was treated by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESW
L) for an impacted ureterstone. Two days after the procedure he developed a
n acute abdomen. On laparotomy, a small bowel perforation in the area of an
adhesion to the abdominal wall was found. The adherent intestinal segment
was located exactly in the range of the ESWL field, so that excluding furth
er reasons the shockwave lithotripsy must be assumed to be causative. Copyr
ight (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.